Readme.txt for "Vagrant Lives" dataset. Documentation written on 28 November 2014, London UK by Adam Crymble (adam.crymble@gmail.com). Updated 15 September 2015 by Adam Crymble. CHANGELOG: - Minor changes made to a handful of georeferences which were wrongly placed in the original version of the dataset. - New suggested reading from Journal of Open Humanities Data added to this document. - Various minor corrections to the project description and text below. Data Creation occurred between April 2012 and July 2013. _License_: We release the following documents under a creative commons ÔCC-BY 4.0Õ license: * Readme.txt (this document) * MiddlesexVagrants1777-1786(v1.1).csv (the data) _Dataset Citation_: Anyone publishing academically or commercially based on research conducted with this dataset in whole or in part is asked to credit the authors with the following citation: Adam Crymble; Louise Falcini; Tim Hitchcock, 'Vagrant Lives: 14,789 Vagrants Processed by Middlesex County, 1777-1786', version 1.1 (2015). DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.31026. _Acknowledgements_: These data were compiled with the financial support of The British Academy / Leverhulme Trust. The original materials were digitised and transcribed by the 'London Lives' project: Tim Hitchcock, Robert Shoemaker, Sharon Howard and Jamie McLaughlin, et al., London Lives, 1690-1800 (www.londonlives.org, version 1.1, 24 April 2012). These documents are part of the 'Middlesex Sessions' papers, held at the London Metropolitan Archives. _Project Description_: This dataset makes accessible the uniquely comprehensive records of vagrant removal from, through, and back to Middlesex, encompassing the details of some 14,789 men and women removed (either forcibly or voluntarily) as undesirables between 1777 and 1786. In includes people ejected from London as vagrants, and those sent back to London from counties beyond. Significant background material is available on the London Lives website, which provides additional context for these records. The authors also recommend the following articles: * Tim Hitchcock, Adam Crymble, and Louise Falcini, ÔLoose, Idle and Disorderly: Vagrant Removal in Late Eighteenth-Century MiddlesexÕ, _Social History_, Vol. 39, No. 4 (2014). * Adam Crymble, Louise Falcini, and Tim Hitchcock, 'Vagrant Lives: 14,789 Vagrants Processed by Middlesex County, 1777-1786', _Journal of Open Humanities Data_, Vol. 1 (2015). Each record includes details on the name of the vagrant, his or her parish of legal settlement, where they were picked up by the vagrant contractor, where they were dropped off, as well as the name of the magistrate who had proclaimed them a vagrant. Each entry is georeferenced, to make it possible to follow the journeys of thousands of failed migrants and temporary Londoners back to their place of origin in the late eighteenth century. Each entry has 29 columns of data, all of which are described in full below. The original records were created by Henry Adams, the vagrant contractor of Middlesex who had - as had his father before him - conveyed vagrants from Middlesex gaols to the edge of the county where they would be sent onwards towards their parish of legal settlement. His role also involved picking up vagrants on their way back to Middlesex, expelled from elsewhere, as well as those being shepherded through to counties beyond, as part of the national network of removal. Eight times per year at each session of the Middlesex Bench, Adams submitted lists of vagrants conveyed as proof of his having transported these individuals, after which he would be paid for his services. The dataset contains all 42 surviving lists out of a possible 67. The gaps in the records are unfortunately not evenly spaced throughout the year. We know more, for example, about removal in October than in May. Spellings have been interpreted and standardized when possible. Georeferences have been added when they could be identified. This dataset was created for 21st century historians, and should not be construed as a true transcription of the original sources. Instead the goal was to use a limited vocabulary and to interpret the entries rather than recreate them verbatim. While this is undesirable for anyone interested in spelling variations of names and place names in the eighteenth century, it is the authors' hope that these interpretations will make it easier to conduct quantitative analysis and studies in historical geography. _Description of Data Columns_ __Vagrant ID Number__ Each vagrant was given a unique ID number in the format X.Y.Z where X is a sequential number starting at one and incrementing with each new group of vagrants traveling together (usually a family). Y and Z should be read as (Y of Z) entries. For example, Vagrant 4191.2.3 is Vagrant 4191, and is the 2nd of 3 vagrants in that family unit traveling together. __Given Names__ This column is an interpretation of the given (first) names of vagrants. Where short forms appeared in the original, these were expanded to their logical full length when this was apparent (Wm = William, Jas = James), but were left as written when there was significant ambiguity (eg, 'S'). Only one vagrant per family group was named on the original lists. This was the male / father if he was part of the group. Otherwise a mother / woman on her own. Unnamed children were marked [Child], wives as [Wife], etc. Illegible entries were marked [illegible] or an appropriate note in square brackets given if an entry was partly legible. Entries containing question marks are attempts to interpret the original source but of which the authors were not particularly confident. __Surname__ This column is an interpretation of the surnames (last names) of vagrants. In cases of obvious mis-spelling by the original transcribers these were checked against the original record and corrected. As in __Given Names__ illegible or partly legible entries were interpreted as best as possible but were marked as such with Square brackets. This affected 65 entries out of 14,789. __Gender of Lead Vagrant__ Interpreted based on the given names of the vagrant. This column uses a limited vocabulary of 3 options: Results can be either * "F" (Female) * "M" (Male) * "[unknown]" when no obvious gender could be determined. __Relationship to Lead Vagrant__ This column provides details of how the vagrant was related to the lead vagrant of the group (if the group contained more than one person). This column uses a limited vocabulary: * "[Child]" * "[Daughter]" * "[Sister]" * "[Son]" * "[Wife]" * "[lead vagrant]" * "[unclear]" * "[unknown]" __Number of People in Group__ This is an integer ranging from 1 to 8, outlining the number of people found in the family group. __Person Type__ A limited vocabulary used to classify vagrants into categories based on the size of their group and their role within it. Options include: * "Solo Male" (A male traveling on his own) * "Single Female" (A female traveling on her own) * "Unknown Solo" (A person traveling on their own - unknown gender) * "Group Leader" (Anyone with one or more dependents traveling under them) * "Dependent" (Anyone traveling under a Group Leader) __Vagrant Category__ Vagrants were classified using a limited vocabulary into one of 6 categories. These are discussed more fully in Hitchcock, Crymble, Falcini 'Loose, Idle and Disorderly' _Social History_. The options were: * "City Vagrant" (Those retrieved by Henry Adams at 'House' depot) * "Middlesex Vagrant" (Those retrieved by Henry Adams at 'Clerkenwell' House of Correction) * "Westminster Vagrant" (Those retrieved by Henry Adams at 'Tothill Fields' Prison) * "Passed to Middlesex Home" (Those who ended their journey in Middlesex - many of whom had probably been expelled back to Middlesex by other counties) * "Passing Vagrant" (Those who were taken from one end of Middlesex to the other on their way to counties beyond as part of a longer journey) * "Unknown" (Entries that were unclear - affecting only 17 vagrants) __Session Start Day__, __Session Start Month__, __Session Start Year__, __Session End Day__, __Session End Month__, __Session End Year__ Each list of names corresponds to a session of the Middlesex Bench. These were held 8 times per year and did not cover periods containing the same number of days. The lists do make it possible to determine the data of arrest, but this information is not consistent and was not extracted as part of the current project. These columns give the date range in days that cover the period between which sessions met, and during which Adams removed the individual listed. __Session # (out of 8 annually)__ Sessions were given a number out of 8 so that they can be compared across years. Session one corresponds to the first whole period contained entirely within a given calendar year (beginning with January). Eg, One starting in January. Usually this was the 1st Thursday after Twelfth Night (around 5 January). Contemporaries likely would have considered the first session after Lent the beginning of the New Year; however this column was created for practical use rather than as a representation of 18th century ideas. __URL of Primary Source__ The Uniform Resource Locator of an image of the original primary source, as housed on the London Lives website. __Magistrate Name__ An interpretation of the name of the magistrate who condemned the vagrant. Where very similar names were found these were presumed to correspond to the same individual. These are therefore not exact transcriptions, but interpretations of the authors. __Taken From__ The location from which the vagrant was collected by Henry Adams. This included a limited number of places, including 18 that were illegible or otherwise not recorded in the original. Excepting these unknown entries, the options include: * "Clerkenwell" (In urban Middlesex) * "Colnbrook" * "Enfield" * "House" (Interpreted as Henry Adams' house, where he kept vagrants for a fee on behalf of the county, presumed to be in Islington) * "Middlesex" (one entry only) * "South Mimms" * "Staines" * "Tothillfields" (In Westminster) __Conveyed To__ The location that Henry Adams left the vagrant. This included a much wider range of depots, as well as the home parishes of vagrants on their way into Middlesex from elsewhere. For more details on the most common vagrant 'Conveyed to' depots, see Hitchcock, Crymble, Falcini "Loose, Idle and Disorderly", _Social History_. __Georeference (Taken From)__ A decimal value of the latitude and longitude of the 'Taken From' location, separated by a semi-colon, where a value could be determined. Unknown entries are marked [unknown] __Georeference (Conveyed To)__ A decimal value of the latitude and longitude of the 'Conveyed To' location, separated by a semi-colon, where a value could be determined. Unknown entries are marked [unknown] __Settlement (Micro Level)__ Most vagrants were listed alongside a parish-level settlement. Sometimes this does not correspond exactly to a parish name, but is instead a reference to a local church, a neighbourhood name, a town or village, or in some cases even a county or country. Where a value was found that corresponded with an entity equal to or smaller than a parish (eg. The name of a church), it was included in this column. The authors have attempted to interpret misspellings and phonetic spellings as best as possible in an endeavour to identify the most likely place of settlement. Short forms and obvious misspellings were corrected to their modern equivalent when one could be identified. Any entry for which there is an [unknown] Georeference in the "Georeference Settlement (Micro Level)" column, the authors were unable to identify the parish of settlement from the evidence provided. __Settlement (Area Level)__ In cases that are part of an area that cannot reasonably be represented by a point on the map, or for which only an urban area was given (eg, Nottingham) it was presented in this column. "[n/a]" was used for cases for which this was not applicable. This was limited to approximately 70 urban centres of reasonable size. __Settlement County__ Every place of legal settlement that could be tied to a county - or shire in the case of Scotland - was identified in this column. __Settlement Country__ The country of the place of legal settlement. The composite parts of the United Kingdom were listed here as separate countries (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales) as well as any foreign countries. __Settlement Georeference (Micro Level)__, __Settlement Georeference (Area Level)__, __Settlement Georeference (County)__, __Settlement Georeference (Country)__ The latitude and longitude for each of these four areas, where a location could be identified. These are presented in decimal form and latitude and longitude are separated by a semicolon. Where no area level location was applicable, '[n/a]' appears. Where no location could be identified on the map to correspond to the place name, '[unknown]' was used. Some of these entries contain a number of digits after the decimal, but these should not be interpreted as greater significance or accuracy. These values should be seen as approximate.